Monday, January 29, 2007

North Carolina erected a marker in 1963 to recognize James Hunter—a militia leader who challenged corrupt tax collectors in the 1700s, and later became a state legislator. But amateur historian Warren Dixon has discovered that the militia leader and the legislator were two different men, both named James Hunter.

One led a band of backwoods men known as the Regulators into the 1771 Battle of Alamance - one of the first acts of rebellion against British rule in North Carolina.

The other was a member of the state Legislature from 1772-82 and a state auditor. He also fought at the 1781 Battle of Guilford Courthouse, according to the N.C. Genealogical Journal.

He is the one most likely to have been buried near the former marker.

"They ought to put a sign up for him," Dixon said. "He sounds more important than James Hunter the Regulator." [Link]